The impact of self-construals on bicultural consumers’ counterfeit postpurchase regret

Purpose Counterfeiting poses a growing threat to global luxury brands. While international marketing research has largely focused on the antecedents of counterfeit purchases and cross-cultural differences, the understanding of postpurchase regret remains limited. As a result, firms lack clear guidance on when to adopt specific anti-counterfeiting strategies. This study aims to address this research gap by examining how self-referential mechanisms, namely, cultural identity conflict and self-construals, shape postpurchase regret among bicultural consumers. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted two studies to test their hypotheses. Study 1, a survey, examines how cultural identity conflict moderates the relationship between bicultural consumers’ attitudes toward counterfeits and postpurchase regret. Study 2, an experiment, demonstrates how priming self-construals can shift the source of postpurchase regret, also moderated by cultural identity conflict. Findings The findings demonstrate that bicultural consumers’ self-construals can be primed to amplify either guilt-based or shame-based postpurchase regret. However, this priming effect is most effective among biculturals who experience low levels of bicultural conflict. In contrast, for biculturals with high levels of cultural conflict, the relationship between attitudes toward counterfeit goods and postpurchase regret is significantly weaker. Research limitations/implications The authors build on their findings to propose an integrative model of counterfeit purchasing, ranging from prepurchase antecedents to postpurchase regret. Practical implications The proposed model helps companies design actionable strategies, such as activating bicultural consumers’ guilt and shame emotions, subsequently increasing their postpurchase regret to deter unethical counterfeit purchases. Originality/value First, this paper challenges the common approach in the counterfeiting literature of examining only prepurchase motivations, which limits its utility for explaining whether a consumer will repeat counterfeit purchases over time. Second, it further dissects the two negative emotions, guilt and shame, that come along with postpurchase regret of counterfeit products. Third, it contributes to the cultural identity literature by examining the interaction between consumers’ self-construals and cultural identity conflict.